SEO Guarantees But what about SEO? Many people who come to us are under the assumption that SEO is a kind of puzzle with a definite, perfect solution - a little like Sudoku. It might take time, but as long as you fill in all the right numbers you’ll get there in the end. And “there” always appears to be top ten rankings, since that is what most people assume that they need. After all, there are plenty of SEO companies out there who are happy to give you a “ranking guarantee”. Surely that must mean that there is a recipe for search engine success, so why don’t all companies do the same? The truth is that aside from the people who actually run the search engines, there’s nobody who can guarantee you a ranking of any kind. They can do things that have a good chance of influencing rankings, but they certainly cannot promise you a certain ranking for a certain phrase. So why do they, and how do they get away with it? Unsurprisingly, the answer is usually hidden in the fine print, so let’s take a look at some of the companies who do this. Names have been changed, of course, and text altered. “RipOffRankings will optimise your site for 20 keywords. We guarantee your site will be listed in the top 20 for 5 of these keywords, spread over 5 of the 25 main search engines.” Looks good, at a glance, but what it basically translates to is this: As long as you’re number 19 for at least one keyword on Lycos, LookSmart, AllTheWeb, HotBot and AltaVista, we keep your money. A second company we’ve come across does it a different way, which involves the client doing virtually all the work. You, the client, are urged to write a blog, countless new articles, constant new content and so on. If after 12 months of this you still haven’t recovered the money you spent with them, they will carry on helping you for free - but only if you have done absolutely everything they told you to, and spent at least 10 hours a week on your site for the past 12 months. Sounds like nice work if you can get it! A third company employs the most common tactic of all: “At SEOScum we GUARANTEE that you will get top 10 in the search engines for YOUR chosen keywords. If we fail to do so in the time agreed, we will continue your services at no charge for 3 additional periods!” Also very easy to translate: You pay us to do a bad job, and if it Follow

1. Google AdWords. Invest the time, learn how to tame it or get someone to do it for you. 2. Search Engine Optimisation. If you don’t think SEO is worthwhile, then you probably shouldn’t bother reading the rest of this list. 3. Press Releases. Don’t just go for the free options. PRWeb is a good option if you can write a good release, and companies like DP Directory – http://www.dpdirectory.com - are very good value if you can’t. 4. Blog and RSS feed. If you have something to sell then you should have something to say. But don’t (i) just talk about your dog and favourite Star Trek episodes and/or (ii) only post once every two months. Marcus’ Macro Blog gets the balance right - http://www.mjtnet.com/blog/ - and FeedForAll makes creating an RSS feed simplicity. http://www.feedforall.com. 5. Social bookmarking. Learn what it is and how to tap into it. It works. 6. Blitz the software sites. There are a choice of reputable services out there that can do this for you. Doing it yourself is no longer necessary. 7. Online demo. If your application looks good in action then show people. Watching a good demo can be as good as installing a trial version, without the headache. But do it right. Listening to a slow-talking muffled voice over the sound of someone hammering away at his keyboard is painful. BB FlashBack is a good choice - http://www.bbsoftware.co.uk. 8. Pushing it in front of the right eyeballs. Droning on about your app to your grandmother is futile and a little cruel. Making sure that the people who could use and buy it know about is a better idea. 9. Set yourself up as a friendly expert. Forums, notice boards, discussion lists, blogs, panels at conferences and print publications all give you the chance to show people how much you know. We’ve been using this approach for years, and are happy to testify how well it can work. What, you thought I was just a nice guy?? http://www.davetalks.com. 10. Targeted discounts. Depending on your markets, people really like time limited “special offers”. If they’ve already heard about your product and were interested, this can be a good means of boosting your sales. 11. Set the right price. Low pricing is one of the more common mistakes in the online software industry. Experiment and track. 12. Have a fresh set of eyes look at your software. There is no way that you can possibly look at your Follow